Back at the Farm....

I was going to show you Sarah's mudroom yesterday, but the post got kind of long, so I decided to do it on its own because it's so awesome (or "allsome", as Pinkerbelle would say).

I have always wanted a mudroom, and I finally got one in our current house.  It's a little room just inside the garage door that would have been the laundry room had we not put it (the laundry) on the second floor.  I do indeed love having a mudroom, but mine has no plumbing and no natural light...it's just a box.

Sarah's mudroom is no box.  It's bright, it has character, and it's gorgeous.  I love the painted paneling, the tumbled travertine floors ("the color of dried mud" Sarah says), and the red doors!  They're just perfect.  This is actually the main entrance of the house, so it needed to make a welcoming statement, as well as corral the boots and coats.

Sarah bought the white bench at a flea market (bottom left in first photo).

  

The light fixture was an old outdoor lantern that once sat on a post; Sarah had it rewired to hang from the ceiling.  The chest between the two closets was another flea market find.

There is a powder room to the left of the entrance door.  I love the antique table she turned into a vanity for the sink, but I'm not crazy about the wallpaper.  I feel like the lavender is a strange color choice connected to the room of reds.  But maybe that's why I'm not the designer.
 

I love Sarah's style, but we would disagree on what constitutes a good deal.  The white bench?  She "bargained" them down to $175.  And the chest between the closet was $600 (then she found out it's not even really very old).  I'm seriously thinking I could have found comparable pieces either on craigslist or at my thrift stores for under $100.  Then again, her budget for the whole purchase and reno of the house was $1.1 million, so I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

Sarah's House is Farm-tabulous!

Several months ago, you may recall, I became enamored with Sarah Richardson.  Her shows about rehabbing and decorating houses in Ontario hit the airwaves on HGTV Canada, and eventually make their way across the border to us.  (BTW, I discovered that HGTV Canada will not allow episodes to be played on non-Canadian computers.  What's up with that?  Or is it just my computer?  Anybody else have any luck?)

Anyway, she's back this spring with a century-old farmhouse some 3 hours outside of Toronto.  I loved her other houses, but this one makes me green with envy.

Growing up in Ontario, I saw hundreds of similar farmhouses, and it holds a certain nostalgia for me.  In fact, my original blog header used a photo of an old Ontario farmhouse, though that one wasn't brick.  I do love the brick, and look at the detail here:  the decorative line around the house and arch above the rounded-top windows.  You just don't see that these days.

Sarah gutted the entire house, and also added an addition that doubled the size, which meant that she could then use a huge portion of the original first floor just for the kitchen.  The island itself is 5ftx9ft.

The cabinets are from Ikea, then custom spray-lacquered.
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Her use of modern amenities with vintage touches keeps the kitchen looking fresh, but farm-house appropriate.  She refinished the original wood floors, and in this photo, the corbels are architectural salvage, and the pendant light is vintage mercury glass.

At the end of the island is this little seating area.  I don't think I need to tell you how much I love that old lunch sign.

Quite possibly one of my favorite features is the staircase off the kitchen. Love the painted runner and the fun use of address numbers.

My son saw these photos and said "are we doing that to the kitchen?".  I wish, my child.  I wish!
And just wait til you see her mudroom!

All photos HGTV Canada.